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Congratulations AAP-CA3 2022 Chapter Award Winners
AAP-CA3’s Pediatrician of the Year
“I am honored to receive the Dr. Bronwen Anders Pediatrician of the Year award. Dr. Anders was my mentor, teaching me the value of community pediatrics and the power of one pediatrician to make a difference in the community.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics, California Chapter 3 (AAP-CA3) is pleased to announce the recipient of the 2022 Pediatrician of the Year award is Dr. Nancy Graff. Dr. Graff is a pediatric specialist at UC San Diego Health who was fortunate to have Dr. Bronwen Anders as her mentor while completing her fellowship at UCSD.
While at UCSD she has served in a variety of roles. One of her most important and rewarding roles was as Medical Director of the clinic at Polinsky Children’s Center (PCC) from 1994 through 2011. PCC has served as a residential facility for children who have been abused, abandoned and neglected. During these years she was very involved in the evaluation of children for child maltreatment. She also developed a deep interest in improving the lives of children in foster care. Through these experiences she was able to see first-hand the importance of the Social Determinants of Health on the lives and health of children and youth.
Out of all her experiences, one of her biggest passions has and continues to be advocacy. Some of her first advocacy experiences took place working with the San Diego Fluoridation Task Force with the goal of bringing fluoridated water to the children of San Diego. She has used her interest in advocacy with the AAP serving as one of two Chapter 3 State Government Affairs (SGA) representative since 2007. Working with the other AAP Chapters in California, the SGA advocates for legislation to improve the lives and children and their families. During this time, the SGA has addressed a variety of issues including legislation to improve immunization rates of children in California, improve access to medical care for children and limit access of youth to tobacco products in California. She also served for 6 years on the AAP National Committed on State Government Affairs collaborating with others on ideas about what can be done through the States to improve the lives of children across the country.
She was also fortunate to be involved from the beginning with the California Community Pediatrics and Legislative Advocacy Residency Training Collaborative. This collaborative works across the states to share curricula and training opportunities for Pediatric residents. Through this collaborative, she was able to take her experiences as an advocate and share it with other pediatric residents. This has been done through coordinating residents attending advocacy day in Sacramento every year.
AAP-CA3’s Early Career Physician Pediatrician of the Year
“The UCSD/Rady Children’s Hospital Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine emerged just in time for the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown in March 2020. From the outset, the need for our support of exploited youth, LGBTQIA+ youth, youth with eating disorders and other mental health issues, and youth with contraceptive and reproductive needs has been clear. For me, this AAP award validates all I’ve been doing in concert with so many colleagues at UCSD, Rady, the AAP, AMWA-PATH, HEAL Trafficking, and San Diego community partners such as San Diego Youth Services, The San Diego Regional Human Trafficking CSEC Advisory Council, Playwrights’ Project, and the La Jolla Playhouse to advocate for marginalized youth. None of us is in this alone.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics, California Chapter 3 (AAP-CA3) is pleased to announce the recipient of the 2022 Early Career Physician (ECP) Pediatrician of the Year Award is Kanani Titchen, MD, FAAP. Dr. Titchen is an adolescent and young adult medicine specialist at Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego and an assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at UC San Diego School of Medicine. She is board certified in both pediatrics and adolescent medicine.
Dr. Titchen has expertise in trauma-sensitive adolescent sexual and reproductive health and human trafficking and is the director of the Adolescent Reproductive Medicine Clinic. She is also the co-founder of the AMWA – Physicians Against the Trafficking of Humans.
Read a recent feature on Dr. Titchen here.
AAP-CA3’s Special Achievement Awardees
Dr. Pradeep Gidwani
“As pediatricians, we know the well-being of our children and their families requires us to work beyond the walls of our practices. By working at AAP-CA3, I have the opportunity to help improve the lives of our children and their families as well as the lives of my colleagues in practice. I am honored to be recognized for our work at the Chapter.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics, California Chapter 3 (AAP-CA3) is pleased to announce the recipient of a Special Achievement Award to Dr. Pradeep Gidwani. Dr. Gidwani, MD, MPH, FAAP graduated from George Washington School of Medicine and completed a Pediatric Health Services Research fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital while earning a MPH at Harvard. He works at American Academy of Pediatrics, California Chapter 3, San Diego and Imperial Counties (AAP-CA3) on a team that provides Countywide Coordination and Support for two large scale community initiatives – Healthy Development Services and First Step Home Visiting funded by First 5 San Diego. Over the last 18 years, these communitywide programs have reached over 340,000 children and their families. Additionally, he consults on an obesity prevention project with UCSD Precision Medicine. He serves on several boards including the National Advisory Board of Health Outcomes from Positive Experiences (HOPE) and the Board of Governors at San Diego Foundation. He is a Past President of AAP-CA3 and a leader in San Diego’s Early Childhood Mental Health (ECMH) community.
Dr. Natalie Muth
“I am extremely grateful to have been nominated and selected for an AAP CA-3 special achievement award. Having the support of colleagues and the AAP is energizing and humbling. Thank you.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics, California Chapter 3 (AAP-CA3) is pleased to announce the recipient of a Special Achievement Award to Dr. Natalie Muth. Dr. Muth is a pediatrician, registered dietitian, and obesity medicine specialist. She is the founder and director of the WELL Clinic at Children’s Primary Care Medical Group (CPCMG) which includes a healthy weight clinic, virtual teaching kitchen, mindfulness program, and healthy living visits. She also helped develop CPCMG’s food insecurity and eating disorder initiatives. She is the immediate past-chair of the AAP Section on Obesity and contributor to several AAP policies and resources supporting healthy nutrition for children and adolescents.
Dr. Wendy Pavlovich
“It has been a tremendous professional growth experience to learn from and support my colleagues in serving the developmental-behavioral health needs of children and their families. I apply what I have learned from this committee work in my daily practice. I am grateful for this recognition and the continued support of the AAP-CA3.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics, California Chapter 3 (AAP-CA3) is pleased to announce the recipient of a Special Achievement Award to Dr. Wendy Pavlovich. Dr. Pavlovich, MD, MHS is a general pediatrician and medical educator at Family Health Centers of San Diego. She completed her pediatric residency a Boston Children’s Hospital/Boston Medical Center Combine Pediatric Residency Program, her medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine, and her Master’s in Health Sciences from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.